Cwm Bach - A South Wales Branch Line

[81A Oldoak]

There has been a slight hiatus in work because the company for I which I work, albeit only part-time these days, forced me to fly to Faro on the Algarve and stay in a brand new luxury 5 star hotel and eat fantastic food for three days while we discussed and planned business strategy. It was a complete nightmare being closeted in a stuffy room just 50 yards from the pool and  with the shine shining in a cloudless, blue sky. I believe this is what the US Constitution defines as a "cruel and unusual punishment." Anyway, I have managed to get back to Cwm Bach and install the Release Loop Starting Signal. It is built from brass tubing and JLTRT GWR signalling parts; the latter are superb, but appear no longer to be available. The signal is driven by another Peco servo. The new signal is shown in the photos.

 

The next tasks are to start the ballasting of the track and to construct retaining walls along the back edge of Cwm Bach. I am undecided about materials for the retaining wall. I have an ample supply of Slater's 7mm scale dressed stone, which is quick and easy to use, but is rather too familiar in appearance. I could also use the Will's Coarse Stone SSMP200. Although nominally 4mm scale, it has been used effectively in 7mm scale by Allan Downes and by Simon Thompson on his marvellous S7 model of Aberbeeg in South Wales. Again it is easy to use, but is rather expensive and, again, somewhat familiar in appearance. The final option I'm considering is to use scribed and carved DAS modelling clay on a suitable foundation. I have used this technique to good effect in 4mm scale and Chaz Harrison is using it to great effect on his new Furness Vale Railroad. However, it does take a long time. I'll procrastinate a little more.

 

TTFN and Toodle pip,

 

Chris

[Barnaby]

Life can be so cruel Chris but you just have to grin and bear it.

 

CWM Bach is coming along nicely now, with the track starting to blend in nicely.  Roll on the ballasting.

 

 

Regards

[81A Oldoak]

My good friend and Ixion business partner Lindsay O'Reilly is over from Australia visiting Europe  and is spending this weekend chez Klein. We visited the Swanage Railway today (the Watercress Line and Didcot were closed) and will be at Railex in Aylesbury tomorrow. This evening we spent a bit of time playing trains operating a variety of locos on Cwm Bach. As you can see from the photos, Lindsay was hemispherically disorientated when first trying to operate my black Hudswell Clarke "Hawkesbury". However, we managed to sort out the problem with a bit of nifty crane shunting. The Heljan Western is pure nostalgia. It is fitted with sound and numbered and named  D1035 Western Yeoman, being  the  first Western to haul me in 1970. She really is a beast of a model. Observant readers will see that my drinks cabinet has been refreshed with a special cocktail of paraffin and oil, but we still keep a bottle of meths for the occasional casual visitor.

[Osgood]

Re. the rear retaining wall made (presumably) from embossed plastikard Fletton brick sheet - whilst a very realistic finish, I do wonder if it isn't the wrong scale…….

[Coombe Barton]

Re. the rear retaining wall made (presumably) from embossed plastikard Fletton brick sheet - whilst a very realistic finish, I do wonder if it isn't the wrong scale…….

It's the 2014 challenge backwards - reverse perspective. 

[81A Oldoak]

Track ballasting operations started at Cwm Bach today. A few weeks ago I sprayed the track area on both boards with Precision Paints "Dirty Black", a rather pleasing shade that would also suit faded GWR wagons and vans. I used a Precision Paints aeresol and it was exhausted after doing about 4/5ths of the track in an area 10' x 2', which I think is a complete swiz;  I had to fire up my airbrush to finish the job.  To save on the volume and weight of ballast, I am fitting pieces of card between the sleepers and the webbing on the track as shown in the second photo. It adds an extra  layer of tedium, but I have purloined SWMBO's guillotine from one of her repositories for the craft stuff that is  gradually taking over the house. The third stage reached today was to paint the cesses either side of the track and apply cinder ash. It looks quite rough at the moment, but once it is set, I will vacuum the surplus. The track will then be ready for the ballast proper, which will be applied to this section on Wednesday this week.

 

The ash is, appropriately,  genuine Welsh anthracite from the coal-fired boiler that powered the central heating in the house I lived in until leaving in 1977 for York University (where else would a railway enthusiast go?). I think I have enough to finish this layout and then I will go up to Ropley on the Mid-Hants Line to replenish my supply. I also have some un- burnt anthracite from the same source that is used for coaling my locos.

 

Regards,

 

Chris

[Barnaby]

Looking good Chris, am I correct to think the ash is only being held by the wet paint?  I understand why you are adding the card strips between the sleepers but I'm B******D if I can see them.  I'll wait to see the Wednesday ballast proper photos.

 

Regards

[81A Oldoak]

Looking good Chris, am I correct to think the ash is only being held by the wet paint?  I understand why you are adding the card strips between the sleepers but I'm B******D if I can see them.  I'll wait to see the Wednesday ballast proper photos.

 

Regards

Barnaby,

The ash is held in held in place with wet paint and it really needs to  be better sieved next time.  I had considered using chinchilla dust as recommended by Gordon Gravett, but our local pet store only sold it in 3kg bags and I thought that was a trifle excessive for my needs. 

 

If you compare the first and second photos you should be able to detect the card strips in the latter. 

 

Regards,

 

Chris

[81A Oldoak]

I have laid the ballast on the first section of track. It always looks disgusting immediately after the PVA glue has been applied so I haven't bothered to photograph it. Meanwhile, here are a couple of shots of one of my rakes of mineral wagons. They are all built from Parkside kits except the middle one, which is PECO. I have also loosely positioned  some Slater's embossed dressed stone plastikard as a retaining wall. I am still undecided about which material to use for the retaining walls. Brick would be so much simpler, but stone is more fitting for the South Wales scene.

[two tone green]

Slaters embossed dress stone, yes indeed something to think about. I picked up two sheets late Monday afternoon, offered them up to each other with the intention of doing a quickie behind some track and instantly stopped and considered using brick.

 

But as you say, its does fit in with the Welsh theme a bit better. Back to thinking about it.

[HeatherKay]

If the terrain is rocky enough, would they even bother with retaining wall? A natural rock cutting, wrought by explosives and hand tools, would look great.

[81A Oldoak]

I ended up making my own stone wall patterns from a Polyfilla/PVA mix, from which a rubber mould was made. I then cast my own stone 'sheets' in resin. Time consuming, but I think worthwhile. Alternatively, there is Chaz's DAS method. How large is the wall...........?

 

Paul,

Along the back wall I need about 10' x 8". There will also need to be a small wall behind the signal box and another 4' x 3" along the river at the front of the layout. I have used DAS clay for engraved stonework on my 4mm layout, but without Chaz Harrison's texture engraving, but I think I would go mad using it for this quantity. I am considering making a a master and rubber mould for resin casting. Martin Coombs's used this method to great effect on the harbourside walling on his splendid White Ooak Light Railway. Altenratively, Alan Downes, uses a home-made devise for impressing stonework into fire-clay.

 

 

If the terrain is rocky enough, would they even bother with retaining wall? A natural rock cutting, wrought by explosives and hand tools, would look great.

 

Heather,

That would be a relatively easy win, but virtually all of the photographic evidence I have for the area shows finished retaining walls in the type of setting that I envisage.

[chaz]

I think that if I was going to use plastic sheet stonework I would put some evenly space buttresses along the wall. That would allow the joints to be lost. Of course you would have the two joints between the front and sides of each buttress to hide. Easier to mask than joins in the flat. You could space them out to make the most economical use of the sheets.

 

I certainly wouldn't use carved DAS if I had the length of wall to do that you have.

 

Chaz

[Giles]

Hi Chris,

On The End of The Line, I took a latex mould from a sheet of Slaters (or some-such) stone work, which gave me a flexible mould to work with long term.....

The long retaining wall was cast in light-weight hydrocal plaster (with a muslin reinforcement to the back) in panels, and then all joined together, and made good

 

 

And the bridge abutments were Daz (with a little PVA mixed in) on ply formers, and then embossed with the same latex mould.

 

 

I' m certainly not saying that this way is any better than any other - but it's different, and is another useful weapon in the armoury.

 

A small bottle of latex came from HobbyCraft. The sheet of stone is surrounded by plasticsene (to make it leak-proof), and latex is poured in. After fifteen minutes, pour the latex out, and then let the skin harden properly, then pour in mour latex and repeat several times to build up a decent thickness.

When dry, dust it down thoroughly with talcum powder before removing, or it will stick to itself , and likewise, talc the 'working' face for the same reason. You should then have a flexible mould for casting or embossing.

[CME and Bottlewasher]

I have laid the ballast on the first section of track. It always looks disgusting immediately after the PVA glue has been applied so I haven't bothered to photograph it. Meanwhile, here are a couple of shots of one of my rakes of mineral wagons. They are all built from Parkside kits except the middle one, which is PECO. I have also loosely positioned  some Slater's embossed dressed stone plastikard as a retaining wall. I am still undecided about which material to use for the retaining walls. Brick would be so much simpler, but stone is more fitting for the South Wales scene.

Hi Chris,

 

Those 16T Minerals look fantastic!

 

On the Stone walling front dont forget SE Finecast as well as Wills' versions (true the latter is for 4mm but they look fine for 7mm too)!

 

One can also mix in a little plaster or similar to the initial paint coats - when painting - so as to add texture and thus loose any 'generic' effects etc.

 

With the Wills sheet any joints can be lost using a soldering iron - lightly rubbed over the joints until gone (using Allan Downes' methods) - I used that method, yet didnt go as far as Allan D. would and finished the rest off with filler thus making an invisible join. As other Posters have mentioned this type of walling can have buttresses added too (so as to hide the joints). I mounted the Wills walling sheets - in the cruel close-up photo - to stiff artists card, yet in future I would mount to ply of the appropriate thickness.

 

Kindest,

 

CME

 

 

Photo is copyright of the photographer 2009-2014

Edited May 29, 2014 by CME and Bottlewasher

[Barnaby]

I c no Wednesday ballast work pics yet but I do see some great stonework pics from Giles and CME. 

Butt joining plastic sheets [if I can use that phrase] is something that bothers me too.  I've toy-ed with making jig-saw style cuts to get rid of the straight vertical line, using solvent to soften the edges and squish them together, then carefully clean up the ridges when dry or give up and just add abutments, weeds buildings etc to cover the joins. 

I did have some small success by OVERLAPPING the sheets, stuck down with solvent, tooth pick the horizontal joints and use filler to blind any unwanted join lines still remaining.

The trouble is, it is very easy to make a not too obvious vertical line MUCH more obvious by adding solvent filing and generally playing about with it.

 

I'll probably use a combination of all the above but one way that I might try is to stick the sheets to a support plate but dry fit the edges together in some filler so it oozes out, then gently wipe clean and tooth pick in the horizontal lines and see what that does.

 

Regards

PS I believe the SE sheets are a little longer than the other ones.

Edited May 29, 2014 by Barnaby

[81A Oldoak]

Lots of comments to reply to and thank you all.  The Slater's sheets were just loosely laid next to eachother. The finnished wall will have butresses along its length. I have had considered the Wills random stone as it has been used effectively in 7mm scale and CME's suggestion might help to mitigate its familiar appearance.  The photo of Florence Colliery taken from the Gauge 0 Guild Gallery shows the effect I am after with a retaining wall that will be backed by some typical South Wales terraced houses. This wall is Slater's, but has been done rather well and just needs  more variation in the colouring of the stones for best effect. 

[Barnaby]

Ahhha I just spotted an interesting point in that photo that I hadn't considered Chris.  Just above the loco cab it looks like the wall is overlaid maybe because the wall is not straight, that's something I could coincide with sheet ends to my advantage, I like it.  I'd give it a bit more depth so it looked intentional though and even create a safety spot to step into to avoid passing nearby trains. 

 

regards

[CME and Bottlewasher]

I c no Wednesday ballast work pics yet but I do see some great stonework pics from Giles and CME. 

Butt joining plastic sheets [if I can use that phrase] is something that bothers me too.  I've toy-ed with making jig-saw style cuts to get rid of the straight vertical line, using solvent to soften the edges and squish them together, then carefully clean up the ridges when dry or give up and just add abutments, weeds buildings etc to cover the joins. 

I did have some small success by OVERLAPPING the sheets, stuck down with solvent, tooth pick the horizontal joints and use filler to blind any unwanted join lines still remaining.

The trouble is, it is very easy to make a not too obvious vertical line MUCH more obvious by adding solvent filing and generally playing about with it.

 

I'll probably use a combination of all the above but one way that I might try is to stick the sheets to a support plate but dry fit the edges together in some filler so it oozes out, then gently wipe clean and tooth pick in the horizontal lines and see what that does.

 

Regards

PS I believe the SE sheets are a little longer than the other ones.

Hi Barnaby,

 

Thanks - I have replied to your PM.

 

I suppose - thinking on it - that using a fret saw one could cut around stones (carefully) and then match them with corresponding stones on the next sheet along.

 

ATVB

 

CME

 

Lots of comments to reply to and thank you all.  The Slater's sheets were just loosely laid next to eachother. The finnished wall will have butresses along its length. I have had considered the Wills random stone as it has been used effectively in 7mm scale and CME's suggestion might help to mitigate its familiar appearance.  The photo of Florence Colliery taken from the Gauge 0 Guild Gallery shows the effect I am after with a retaining wall that will be backed by some typical South Wales terraced houses. This wall is Slater's, but has been done rather well and just needs  more variation in the colouring of the stones for best effect. 

Hi Chris,

 

I think that adding a plaster mix/wash removes the generic aspects of the sheets and also dulls down the stone effect a little - ie an ageing effect.

 

Looking forward to seeing how you progress.

 

Kindest,

 

CME 

Edited May 29, 2014 by CME and Bottlewasher

[81A Oldoak]

I have finished ballasting about 30" of track. The first photo shows the ballast laid dry having pushed, prodded and persuaded into position with a cheap flat paintbrush. The second stage was to spray the track and ballast with a fine mist of wet water i.e. water with a smidgeon of el cheapo washing-up liquid to break down surface tension. 50/50 diluted PVA glue was applied with a syringe and the resultant mess was left to set for about 24 hours. The hardened ballast had darkened and taken on the faint green hue that always seems to afflict my efforts. I therefore decided to dry brush the ballast with pale shade of grey. The second photo attempts to show the "before and after" effect of the dry-brushing with track at the back unpainted. It looks better in reality. The final shots show the track after the application of rust. I mixed a brew from Humbrol so-called track colour and matt black and some brick red from an ancient tin of Airfix M1 that is still going strong after 30 years. The final task was to apply some MIG weathering powders (a blend of Russian Dark Earth and Standard Rust) to the track to represent rust and brake dust. It has taken a long time to complete this small section of track, but in 7mm scale, I believe the effort is necessary. The colliery line will be ballasted differently and will be a blend of ash and coal dust.

 

SWMBO is out at a craft fair tomorrow helping our daugher man - or should that be woman - her jewellery stand so I am off to the Mid Hants Line about twenty minutes away for a dose of steam and sulpher. By the way, Natasha makes fantastic jewellery and is skilled at silver soldering. Sometimes I think her talent is wasted and should be directed to the commission building of locomotives. Anyway, if you ever need an idea for a present have a look here: http://www.natashafraser.com/

 

Meanwhile, as Mathesar, leader of the Thermians on Galaxy Quest likes to say, "On, on".

[Barnaby]

Tasty Chris, it sounds like you're going to be on the ballast gang for quite some time yet though. 

 

Best

[Osgood]

…..Meanwhile, as Mathesar, leader of the Thermians on Galaxy Quest likes to say, "On, on".

 

Or in the case of ballasting - "Never give up, never surrender!"

 

Good looking track!

[81A Oldoak]

Or in the case of ballasting - "Never give up, never surrender!"

 

Good looking track!

Absolutely. By Grabthar's Hammer, I'll finish this ballasting

[Kev_Lewis]

Great start to the ballasting, Chris.

 

A couple of questions:

Are those Peco buffers, but with the cross piece changed?

What's the arrangement with the tie-bar of the turnout on the edge of the photo? Is there a point motor hidden in the signal box?

[HeatherKay]

That would be a relatively easy win, but virtually all of the photographic evidence I have for the area shows finished retaining walls in the type of setting that I envisage.

 

Oh, what a shame. I know it was fairly common to use brick or stone to reinforce an area if it needed it. The combination of material surfaces always makes for a nice model, I think. Still, if it doesn't fit your prototype information...